London events for people with curious minds.
All Week
The hot tickets this week are to listen to historical talks inside St Augustine's Tower, Hackney. Mon, Tue and Friday's talks are fully booked, but you can still get tickets to see Sean Gubbins talk about Hackney History (Wednesday) and Ken Worpole discuss the forgotten author of Ball's Pond Road. FREE, 7.30pm
Monday 14 May
BOOKS: The Fiction Lab book club returns to the Royal Institution tonight. Turn up and talk about the book of the month: The Killing's Done by T. Coraghessan Boyle. FREE, 7pm
GENERAL GEEKERY: Mark Henderson, science correspondent for The Times, has a new book out, and it's called The Geek Manifesto. Celebrate the launch at the Westminster Skeptics in the Pub, in The Monk Exchange, Victoria. £2, 7.30pm
Tuesday 15 May
POLITICAL MATHS: Gresham College have a talk from the chief scientific advisor to the Home Office at Barnard's Inn Hall, Holborn. Bernard Silverman will discuss, in particular FREE, 6pm
TUNNELS: The proposed Thames Tunnel, a 25 metre sewer beneath the river, is the subject of a talk at the Geological Society (Burlington House) tonight. FREE, 6pm.
JOURNALISM: This month's Bright Club at the Wilmington Arms, Finsbury tackles the ever-changing world of journalism. Listen to journalists, academics, comedians and museums dissect the press. £5, 7.30pm
STAR TREK: Boldly go to the Ritzy bar in Brixton for an evening devoted to the science of Star Trek, courtesy of the PubSci group. FREE, 7.30pm
Thursday 17 May
NURSING: The changing reputations of Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole are examined in a talk at the wonderful Florence Nightingale Museum tonight. FREE, 6.30pm
MEDICINE: Wellcome Collections 'Tell it to your Doctor' series continues with a discussion between a sufferer of chronic fatigue syndrome and her doctor. FREE, 7pm
BEERS: The Geekpub meetup group hosts a new members evening at Namco Station on the Southbank, for booze, gaming talk and general geek mingling. FREE, 7pm
Friday 18 May
SURGERY: The Hunterian Museum puts on an evening devoted to Thomas Wakley, founder of The Lancet and thorn in the side of the Royal College of Surgeons, who died 150 years ago. The event forms part of Museums at Night, during which lots of London's small museums open late for special events. FREE, 6-9pm
MAPS: London Transport Museum's contribution to Museums At Night is to hold a special late opening themed around its new Mind The Map exhibition. Sideshows include a talk from author Craig Taylor and a mappy workshop with Claire Brewster. £8/£6, 7pm
SOUND: This month's Science London event looks at the science of music, hosted by Martin Archer who is, appropriately, both a DJ for Kiss FM and a plasma physicist. The event takes place at the Chapel Bar in Islington. £5, 7.30pm
Saturday 19 May
COMICS: Fans of the genre should check out the Kapow Comic Convention at Islington's Business Design Centre, which runs today and tomorrow. Guests include Nick Frost, Warren Ellis and Noel Clarke. Comics of the other definition will also be in attendance, in the shape of Frankie Boyle and Jimmy Carr. Prices vary
BRAINS: Catch a series of films about the brain at Wellcome Collection, to coincide with the ongoing brain exhibition. FREE, 3pm
SPACE: The Royal Observatory's contribution to Museums at Night is to put on an evening devoted to space, with planetarium film screenings and talks by scientists. FREE, 5-8.30pm
